Somewhere aboard the Prospect Horizon Engineering The Prospect Horizon, from no matter which angle you really viewed it from, was a goliath. That was an understatement, no less- to house 300 people, you needed a lot of station. And Ellie Tavistock was one of those crew, the Acting Head of Extra-Vehicular Activity floating through the Engineering department, looking over at diagnostics, and then at the Earth below. She always liked to get a view- right now, she could see the Horn of Africa, and the Red Sea as clear as day, sunrise touching their shores as she knew for them, it was a new day. She'd been up for just an hour, but she'd already eaten, and cleaned herself up as best as she could. Right now, she had a EVA to plan out, and the diagnostics she checked, was on the suits sitting to her left. She knew the crew would be over soon, but it was a simple process to plan out. It was about a four hour walk, and she'd gotten them about five hours, if the supply that they had would last them. She thought about sending out a drone, but that wouldn't do the job. This was more sensitive. It needed extended tool-work, and the drones were bad at that. Good at fitting things, but not at piecing careful components together with a combination of strength and precision. That was why she had the team she had picked. They could get more oxygen or kit from the airlock when need be- she knew that the crewman could feed it through quickly if the situation arose. But these shorter walks weren't half a surprise to Ellie, and somewhat, she knew that this would be a simple job. In terms of clothing, there was a thermal shirt and cotton longjohns aboove some thermal underwear that Ellie wore, followed by a packaged liquid-membrane that almost fitted all over, as a coolant within the spacesuit. The latest model was far more efficient than anything that had been in the past on NASA's spacesuits on the ISS- rather than taking 45 minutes to labor over, it took a third of that time, and was a snugger jacket to wear. Other factors, such as the fact that you had to wear a diaper on this run, wasn't half surprising. The usual, even. Ellie checked the last of the specs, before floating through the section, looking out the far end, at the Airlock, a snug but compressed area, then at the EVA suits. She reached above to grab a small radio device, something she knew would reach the right source. "Calling the crew for EVA #57, for the Greenhouse Work to Engineering Airlock. Get yourselves down here within the next five minutes. Thank you." She said simply, in her regular calm voice, one that was neither too antagonizing nor positive. It was calmly neutral. It was a job to Ellie, not something she carried her whole soul through. Though of course, a hidden pleasure in her was always there, when she looked out at the Sea of Aden seeing a sunrise. Putting the radio back, she drifted down, a little deeper into the bay, the crystalline white a complete difference to the black outside. She knew that it was going to take a hell of a while to get sorted- but she might as well begin. The rest would be here, as she got clad in her membrane, before piece by piece, working on her EVA suit. The flag of Albion sat on the left shoulder, with a patch of the Prospect Horizon, and her name. The suits had a distinct white and black, and were the latest generation of extra-vehicular activity spacesuits, being more tactile and easier fitting. She took the helmet off piece by piece, and slowly began to become clad up in the hefty EVA suit, a light object in Zero Gravity, but heavy back on earth. It felt strange, but this was life. Ellie knew that six years ago, she was still flying helicopters. Now she had enough experience to compete with some of the best that the world had to offer in Astronauts, and she was good at her job. Back in the UK, she'd gained a little fame, for being among the first British astronauts involved on such a project. Especially the fact she was close to clinching an important role, and was a female. Now that was a factor. But no less, she knew that it was nothing to change her mentality over. She was as much Ellie Tavistock as she liked, her husband and family liked, and probably anyone aboard the station did. Just that redhead that knew how to run a spacewalk, that was all. And she liked things the way they were. One of the men of Engineering threw himself through the gap, wearing a Italian patch on his shoulder, and having probably as neat a mustache as a man could get around here. "Fabio, good to see you. Got the crew for the walk coming over, I might need some help getting them sorted and into the suits, and you flushing us out. I've already run diagnostics on kit, I've been here for at least half an hour checking through each bit of it, and that's on top of what I know you said you did a few hours back." Ellie said, as Fabio, or better known as Fabio Lorenzo, the ESA's other contribution to EVA systems aboard this station nodded as he was looking over. The Italian was about 5"10, and had shaved short hair, with his distinct olive tone suggesting he was from south of Rome. Maybe Naples, even as far as Sicily- he was more Mediterranean than northern, yet his Italian accent wasn't something that dragged when he spoke. "Yes, I had a look for you, seems all good. I saw you're taking Dyatlov and King out, you sure they're cut for this?" He asked, as Ellie squrimed a little, still finding it a little tricky to fit in, as she adjusted her shortly-kept red hair, before bringing a hairnet out, with a white cotton snoopy hat going over, which left only her face and neck visible on her haid. She tucked herself in deeper into the suit, exhaling hard as she looked to him, the suit's helmet by her side at her sitting position. The fact that she could do this alone was pretty remarkable- usually, it took a lot of time and effort, but the way these had been made meant it was far easier to fit in. She had a knack- others, not so much, but she wanted Fabio to look over. He wasn't ultimately who she reported to, but Ellie knew that you respected the person who was flushing you out into the vaccum of space, especially with a team like this. "They'll be fine. Dyatlov is just a little panicky, not as confident on walks as he could be. Russians don't usually have a knack for work outside like the Americans do. He has it in him, though. Shame Rousseau couldn't come, he's a good man to have; knows every bolt like he'd set it there himself. King, now he's a Scientist. I don't like having to babysit, but he's going to be there so I'll make sure that if we have an extra hand, we use it." She said, as she slid deeper in, checking the suit's arms and hands, the thick gloved hand responding to her reflex, as she fully dropped inside. Ellie knew that in a moment, she would be beyond the point of no return. The oxygenation process would begin, and her suit was hooked up into the supply, a tank in a panel across from the rack, that piped pure O2 through into the suit. It went in and the resultant CO2 was piped immediately back out- though this was merely an arrangement that got the user's breathing up to scratch. Namely, it meant that simular to how a diver would have the bends when nitrogen bubbles form in their blood, that Ellie didn't have them. And it almost felt like time, as she knew that once the others were over, the long half hour process would begin. People like Neil would be more than useful- he'd be able to sort the others out if Fabio was busy, and keep an eye on them. "I heard good things of those Virgin Galatic workers. Probably won't see them, but I think a handful of their group got put out on electronics on the Mars machine." She said, as Fabio had a look over the connector of her suit's chest and legs, helping secure up the bits that Ellie couldn't, as he got back up and checked over King's gear. "Maybe. But you stay safe out there, Ellie. Always makes me wonder why you wanted this. I don't go out half as much as you do. You have a certain confidence with it." He said, as she chuckled, Fabio shaking his head somewhat at the thought. "And it's why I'm Acting Station chief on spacewalks, Fabio." "Yeah, but that's because Commander Ivanovich isn't about right now..." "Say what you like, he's ill too. Fucking people catching a flu up here. They sent him back, I still can't believe that." She added, as Fabio nodded his head silently, still looking over Jeremiah's spacesuit, followed by Neil's. Ellie leaned back, feeling somewhat thoughtful, thinking. It was time like this you thought. About your husband, about family. She hadn't seen Ben in a while. And while she knew things were strained with him, he was happy for her. He was happy he had a wife that did what she loved, and while Ben was just merely an Engineer who worked in civilian aviation, they got along so well. She chatted to him whenever she found the time, and while it wasn't the same as being in person, this was a long distance relationship that was still afloat. Long distance, meaning, it was literally hundreds of kilometers out of his world. Maybe she would give this up. Hand in notice when she returned from this. Retire, just become a housewife. Something normal. Not some astronaut, living what Ellie once had considered a fantasy. She said to herself she'd join the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy, and that was her life, as a helicopter pilot. And yet this fantasy was so real. It was strange, but it was only a glimmer in Ellie's mind, as she exhaled, looking around at the suiting area. Right now, Ellie waited, knowing that when they arrived, they knew the drill. She'd briefed them earlier, and told them precisely what was happening, and how. She wanted no problems, and knew that any last moment things, she could get across whilst they were getting their suits on, and their helmets. Then it would truly begin, and they'd be no longer able to just run back to this. Their blood would be purged of nitrogen bubbles, and they'd be getting used to breathing pure oxygen for the next few hours. It wasn't anything that different, but it had a different taste, almost like Gunpowder. Ellie sat on, looking over as Fabio floated above, configuring the diagnostics of the compartment's 3D Printer, as Ellie checked the internals of the suit's electronics. The HUD would function, as would the heating, coolant and the suit's oxygen, and sealing system. Good. She knew hers was good to go, as she stayed strapped down, fully kitted up, bar for her helmet. It would be time soon enough, to get going.

Makoto activated the radio on his suit. He'd been working on the inside, installing upgrades to the computer system. Even though he had come over through a docking port, he was wearing his suit, with only the gloves and helmet removed. After all, you didn't want to be without a suit with someone working on the hull on an unfinished ship. One minor mistake and the hull could breach. "Hey Rodriguez, how's that comms dish going?" "I'm just hooking it up." A few seconds later the computer notified Makoto that a new device had been connected to the system. "Plug and play spaceship parts." said Makoto, "much better than the old style upgrades they use on the station. They should really upgrade their software." He verified that the new dish was installed and online. "Computer, connect to VGSAT 01 and download all available upgrades for the comms system." The screen displayed a box which detailed the download. "1.1 gb/sec". He watched the download for a few seconds to make sure it was working. "6.8 gb of 1.2 tb." it read. "Such a slow download." he muttered to himself. "At least the upgraded software will speed it up from this 10 year old outdated form."

[Post made while listening to this. Please accept my apology] An older Canadian First Nations man floated over the left shoulder of a younger tech who was carefully attaching some wiring and cowling to the inside of one of the capsules. Both astronauts were grounded to the inside of the capsule carefully. Neither astronaut in any mood to have some of the stations energy stream blaze through them like a lightning bolt. It's the Canadian who speaks up, "You know what I think you did wrong in this case Percy? Should have connected the red ends last. Because those wires are live. And as much as we need these lines, it would have been alot safer to have connected them backwards." The younger astronauts looks at the set up nodding in understanding, "You see Pat? This is exactly why I wanted you to watch over my shoulder while doing this." Neil Patrick Stienhauer nodded, "Okay I'll give you that. For now, you know. It's okay sometimes not to do things by the manual for safety's sake." Percy nodded, "Thanks old man." Just then the annoucement for the EVA walkers to report came over the PA. Neil checked his watch, "Damn time flies. Okay. Finish up. And don't fry yourself. I need to get down there. I'm the safety specialist for this walk." The older airforce major unclipped the grounding line. Pulled a half somersault, planted his feet then kicked off the cieling? and drifted through a connector coil carefully. It took him all of 3 minutes. And soon he's squeezing through one of the connectors leading into the Airlock module. Reaching out with practiced ease he caught an overhead handlebar. Bringing himself to a practiced stop. He smiled at Ellie and Fabio, "Hey there you two, sorry about that was up helping Percy. Making sure he wouldn't fry himself. Didn't miss anything did I?" He smiled warmly as he floated over casually to start checking his suit.

Jeramiah was... Excited. Very very excited. He'd been briefed, he'd been trained (albeit briefly), and finally, he was just about to spacewalk... Like, actually move around, in a complete vacuum, protected by what is practically a few layers of fabric. It was nerve-racking, but exhilarating. He made his way through the station, the adrenaline pumping. As a child, he didn't dream of becoming an astronaut, so it wasn't as if this was some lifelong goal... but it was still awesome. He arrived at the Engineering Airlock, smiling ecstatically at Ellie, Fabio, and Pat. "Hey," almost out of breath from excitement. "How are we all?" He looked around. His suit was ready for action. He went over to it to begin preparing for the mission."

Viktor starred dully at the instrument panel before him, his hands working whilst his mind was elsewhere. He finished with the recalibrations before pushing away softly as he continued to think about everything that could go wrong with the upcoming spacewalk, drifting weightlessly for a few moments before the crackle of the comms panel brought him back into focus as the familiar voice of Ellie Tavistock reached his ears. "Calling the crew for EVA #57, for the Greenhouse Work to Engineering Airlock. Get yourselves down here within the next five minutes. Thank you." His stomach lurched and did a little backflip as he groaned and ran both of his hands through his hair hesitating for a moment longer as apprehension filled him, taking yet another moment to reassure himself silently. ‘It’ll be fine’ he said to himself ‘You’ve done it before, you’ll do it again. Just focus, get the job done and get back’.He knew that the build up was the worst part for him, bringing himself to actually just get out there, but once he was out there and working he’d relax a little and stop focusing on all of the worst case scenarios that could present themselves. Starting to look pale as a spectre Viktor began the short journey through the station, floating along and using his arms to pull and push himself where he needed to go, the novelty of weightlessness having long ago faded and now the lack of direction and forces acting simply frustrating him whenever something slipped from his grasp. When combined with the almost constant exercise regime he had to endure he was definitely looking forwards to returning back to the sweet sweet earth and its wonderful gravitational field. As he neared the airlock module where the rest of the EVA team would be waiting he paused at one of the small windows and spent a brief moment gazing down at the world, as always the sight being somewhat humbling and breathtaking even after all of this time. His eyes flicked over towards the exterior of the greenhouse, the numerous bits of scaffolding and machinery drawing his attention as he imagined that shortly he’d be out there floating in the abyss with little more than a tether and thin layer of suit protecting him from certain death, his eyes focusing briefly on the inky darkness that loomed in the background of his vision. “Chyort voz'mi...” he mumbled to himself, cursing in his native tongue as he often did as his nerves still panged almost painfully at him. A few moments later he propelled himself into the module, seeing that already Ellie and the Canadian Stienhauer were there preparing as usual, with the observer... something King it was, floating with a huge grin spread across his features. Still pale and a little shaky Viktor neglected to say anything to the others and moved right towards his suit, the American flag emblazed on the shoulder glaring back at him as if to taunt him a little as he quickly started to prep it and himself. He sweated a little as he did, though the sight of Ellie calmed him a little – simply because he trusted in her abilities and role, something he had quickly learned on his first few walks as she always had the patience to deal with him and reassure him if needed. If it wasn’t for her he was sure that after his first spacewalk he’d have flat out refused to ever do it again. Then there was Stienhauer, the capable Canadian who was more than familiar with these kinds of walks. All in all he was happy with the crew of the walk, each of them being an expert within their role, and with plentiful enough experience outside the station to get the job done as quickly as possible. Viktor didn’t know much about King, their observer, but he figured that he would stay out of the way whilst they did what they needed to do whilst he filmed and took pictures, and as long as he didn’t distract them there wouldn’t be any problems, though he did slightly envy the man as he glanced again over towards him, his excitement practically oozing out of him as he was also preparing his suit for the walk.

(This is a long post, it throws us into the action. I will be quite liberal with where you are placed in regards to it- though keep in mind, Viktor doesn't have a thruster pack, and neither does Makato. Post order if you wish, it's not mandatory.) Ellie watched them all come, one by one, as they got kitted up. They were all knowing of what this was. A walk into the nether. The outside was a vacuum, so cold and filled with radiation, that it would ruin you if you didn't wear a spacesuit, and no doubt, simultaneously boil and freeze your blood. It was something she'd never seen. But she'd take the word for it, because it was quiet. Just silent. Just somewhat strange, almost crazy. But it was what she did. Looking around, she looked over to Viktor, as he kitted up. "Good to see you all. Just so we're all clear, I know you've practiced on Earth, gone through the simulator and the water tanks. I know Neil and Viktor should be fine, but do not decide to do anything crazy, King. You follow my instruction, and nothing happens. You should know automatically what you're doing. Neil could rant on, but just so you know, I've never had any critical issues, and I don't want any today. So you keep careful, and stick to us well." Ellie said, as she looked over, watching as they all suited up, the process long but needing. It was a lot of kit, and very complicated. But this was what kept you alive. It wasn't velcro, or zips. No, they would fail. It was a knot and effecively, a corkscrew mechanism that kept you alive. As rudimental as it sounded, the latter was so strong, it would probably need enough force to rip your body apart to take you to pieces. And that was always something that Ellie considered- they were based on very good technology, and were fundamentally, very effective. "Okay, when you're set, helmets on, get the oxygen flowing. I'll ping you on radio, give a thumbs up if you can hear." She said, adjusting her headset in the snoopy hat a little, strapped around her neck and going to her ear. Fabio was helping the others, as she put her helmet on, screwing it in as she clipped it, as securely as it could get. Hearing her own breath, she felt the oxygen supply kick a little, and her lungs feel a little different. This would take some time. "Testing, testing." Ellie simply said, aware that this was it. Another walk. Like the others she'd done. The suit felt remarkably light, almost as if she was a blimp, of some sort. Being petite naturally, it felt very strange indeed, looking down the arms and legs, through the reinforced and almost golden-tinted visor. It was a childhood dream to most. She could see it in King. To Steinhauser, this was normality. And as it was for her, she reminded herself. This was a good job, but it took a mindset of steel to suceed. And that she'd proven on many an occasion. She was good at what she did. Sitting up, she inspected the suit-mounted thruster pack, being something that was perhaps a little better for buoyoncy, rather than drifting. It would work very well in moving to inspect close up, rather than drift through, though she knew the team went with whatever worked best. Her toolkit, like it did on all the suits, sat below that pack, with the mechanisms inside being optimized for Zero-G. You couldn't lose a bolt or a screwhead- it was tethered by a specific mechanism that always kept it clipped to the case, which was always attached to the operator, namely, her. It had been an old invention, but they worked. On a scale like this, they were the easiest method, over anything more futuristic. A tablet would come in handy to just configure the panel that needed to be fixed, and perhaps make it a little easier to perform diagnostics- a tool she'd be willing to lend to Viktor. Of course, Ellie knew that a 3D Printer was always an option, if she wanted a small fabricator for this run. But for now, the airlock would be an area that Fabio could send things through, when need be. And as she breathed in slowly, the HMD kicking in on the visor, displaying her suit's status, oxygen, orientation respective to the station, as well as a few other points of interest, such as the digitally-enabled panel that they'd be working on, she looked back over. The HUD picked off the crew, and it was somewhat useful to be able to see them- though this thing didn't always work perfectly, with some of the suits. It seemed okay, for now. No matter. She waited for a response from the others, and sat tight, checking and double checking the rest of her. From the flag of Britain sitting on her left shoulder, to the thick gloved hands at her fingers. It would take a while, but once she knew the HUD pinged it up, and she'd seen Fabio check over and give the go ahead that indeed, the nitrogen had been flushed from her blood, they'd be going. It wasn't worth the risk, at least for now to have the bends, or Decompression Sickness- it would hurt your bones, and generally be confusing to deal with, something of which Ellie could say was something that you definitely didn't want in this environment. Sitting back, she waited, letting her thoughts assemble. She knew they knew precisely what was going on, and she'd brief them soon, before they headed out. ------ (OST) Sordid Affair Half an Hour Later Within the airlock, the feeling was tense, Ellie right by the door, looking through the small window that sat within it. The smell of gunpowder was something that they said you could smell, but right now, Ellie didn't feel it. More like the smell of rubber, in her suit's lining. It was strange. She turned to the others, keeping her hand on a rail close to the door. The pressure was dropping, from an interface on the wall- this place would be soon decompressed fully, and they could go. "Okay, people; the plan is simple. We've got a faulty set of solar panels on the side of the Greenhouse, and while we're at it, we're going to also tinker with a plating on the roof of the station, and re-seal it. There's another two layers below, but this skin needs to be rebound. Hence the reason we've got tools, gents. King, I want you to have minimal effort on this mission- you stay back, and stay clamped into something solid. You've got karabiners attached to the core of your suit, clip them when need be to the kink points along the side. Use minimal thrust; use only when necessary, people. You know precisely the Safety concerns. Neil will keep an eye out on us, and him, myself and Viktor will conduct the engineering work. If we need help, Jeremiah, we'll call you over. Act on my command. You look like it's your first time for real. It's a surreal feeling, trust me." She said, as she looked over, the flow of oxygen just as expected, as a slow klaxon went off. Then, it slowly felt like it was real. The door opened, the hatch opening up, as Ellie used the rail to pull herself out, almost scooting up in such a way that she kicked off nicely, drifting upwards, rather than sidewards. Direction made little sense here, but Ellie had gotten used to it. "Follow on me. Slowly." She said, calmly speaking, not sounding panicky or tense. She spoke as if she knew precisely what King was going through right now. He may have been happy, but he'd be confused, tense. And this was going to happen by the book. Moving up, she clipped in, hearing Fabio over comms. "This is Fabio, airlock is sealing. I'll watch via camera, have a good one out there." He simply said, the Italian still within engineering, as the little jutting peninsula of the Prospect Horizon sat below Ellie. She looked back, and saw the crew following, with the earth in the background. In 30 minutes, they'd almost done a full orbit. And in full view, was the Atlantic Ocean below, the whole gleaming bowl that was the Earth just a wonderful thing to see. She could see almost nine billion people through her visor. Nine, Billion. Nine billion people going about their lives. It was morning in New York and Toronto, and they were waking up, to grab their breakfast and their morning papers. Across the Atlantic, it was just lunchtime in London, and over the Home Counties of England, with the sun at Ellie's back sitting high above them. Further across, was Moscow, experiencing a bright evening, and further than that, the lakes and wastes of Siberia, which went on and on. The earth was dark further East, the other side not visible in Ellie's visor. It took her almost a moment to take into account. This was the civilization below that had done this. Pioneered why she was here. Humanity was instinctively able to develop, and whilst war was always something, it did this. A future for the race that had once confined itself to just one home. It looked out now, and this station was the start, albeit a tiny fragment. Yet Ellie knew that no matter what, just not letting it get the best of you was the best move. She moved along, unclipping, as she moved along, almost blimping it in a way, towards the next clip in point. "Okay, King, I want you to continue following me. Dylatov, Steinhauser, you move along the side, down towards the solar panel. Remember, don't drift, and since slow is smooth, smooth is steady. Calm." She said, reassuringly, as she moved up, clipping in the karabiner. She had no idea of what happened next, because even Ellie Tavistock wasn't able to comprehend it. The explosion was gut-wrenching, and could be seen first in the Greenhouse, followed by the rest of Habitation, and Logistics. It was a chain reaction, as module after module simply either disintegrated, or became blasted apart. Ellie was almost unable to comprehend it, and even her mind wasn't fast enough. She suddenly felt thrown back, the module below her rippling and knocked back severely. ----- A minute later, Ellie opened her eyes, almost screaming. She didn't know what had happened. How she was alive. If the rest were alive. She didn't want to know. But panic rushed. She breathed almost double, her heart thundering. She looked around, activating the thruster pack, the HUD picking it up. She yelled without thought, looking around. She was being pushed back. Her kink point had disintergrated, and the karabiner had been blown apart. Her suit, however, was intact. She felt nothing significant, the HUD said that whilst there was a little bit of wear on the legs, she was good to go. She was lucky to be alive, right now, and in a state like this. She looked towards blackness, and had to turn around, to see the carnage. It was gobsmacking. The thruster pack had simply stopped her drift, as she looked around, at the flying and blown apart parts of the station. "Fuck!" She yelled, as she breathed hard, aware she must have almost been hyperventilating. "Anyone, do you receive! Find something solid and hang on! Viktor hasn't got a thruster pack, if you see him, catch him!" She screamed, the HUD unable to pick anyone up. She cursed quietly, almost in tears, just knowing that couldn't happen. Calm down. She had to move up, back up to something. Engineering hadn't been blown apart, it was the largest segment that was still intact, a huge behemoth of a line-based module system that looked still vaguely intact. She only had one thing in mind. Everyone could be dead. Her fellow EVA walkers, everyone on station, everyone working on the Mars machine, everyone. She might be the only one left. Whilst fragments of habitation were left, she could see from here, that it was in pieces. She had to drift over, find someone, as the whole thing shook, moving about. She had to line up, at least somehow get in line with Engineering, see who was left. The majority of the group was behind her, maybe they'd stayed karbinered in. Or maybe they were gone too, but not backwards, yet downwards. Then they'd be dead. She had to tell herself to stop panicking. But she couldn't hold herself entirely together. The Prospect Horizon was now shrapnel in the sky, and no doubt, news outlets on earth would already have cameras pointed. About the tragedy, how 298 people are dead, and that no radio contact existed. Ellie's radio barely touched the comms of the others, and she knew it would be bad. Moving up, she grabbed the remnants of their airlock, looking around, as she moved up, scrambling inside. The station was clustered, but bits had completely vanished, or just been turned to pulp. The chain reaction seemed to only be Habitation, and the Greenhouse areas, hitting Logistics and the docked SpaceX craft. That was now out of orbit, blown to pieces, and she could see the whole structure fall to the earth.. But remarkably, the Mars machine, as Ellie and the others knew it, was still there. It looked significantly damaged, as if it had been picked apart, but remained docked to Medical and Scientific bays. It was a strange feeling, but somehow, Ellie knew she had to keep thinking of the situation. "Does anyone receive me?" Ellie cried once again on the radio, breathing hard, as she looked at her HUD, knowing precisely what it said. Four hours, seventeen minutes of oxygen remaining. Then, Ellie would suffocate. That was unavoidable. She kept thinking to herself, as she looked around, scanning her eyes meticulously for anyone that was drifting. She knew that Viktor had no thruster pack, and instantly almost panicked. He could be dead, but Jeremaiah, and Steinhauser, they did. She held on tight, the airlock completely comprimised open. Fabio's body drifted, and she almost retched, had it not been for her greater instinct telling her not to. It was a horrifying sight to see, and it wasn't just his body. Two more technicians from the far side of engineering were following the orbit of the ruined Prospect Horizon. She held herself as best as she could together, just hanging on. Ellie racked her mind for an escape route. But it was a lot to look over. If she regrouped with her team, they needed to get out, and fast. No waiting. They needed to find an escape pod, and get the survivors to the Earth- anywhere would do. Reestablish communications if need be, find oxygen, find perhaps even other survivors that could find a dated Sokol suit, or were on the Mars craft. If they were wearing their helmets and full suits at the time, Ellie guessed they could easily live, but she hadn't a clue. No less, she knew that this was perhaps the end. She had to stop saying it, but no matter what way you looked at it, they were 500km above the Earth's surface, there was a dwindling oxygen supply, and no doubt, she could at any moment have her suit punctured by flying shards of metal or paint, if it wasn't for the fact that she was now within a sheltered area by the airlock. For now, she had to watch, and if she saw anyone, Ellie knew what to do. Go to them, and get them to safety, if it was on of her EVA crew. Anyone else aboard habitation or in the Greenhouse was dead, and she was able to guarantee that, almost for certain. Escape was the only way now, and Ellie knew as good as anyone, it would take a split second for a single thing to happen, such as a secondary explosion, or flying shrapnel, and they'd be dead.

Jeremiah finished preparing his EVA, and then put it on. He let himself float as the oxygen filled up. His excitement had become more nervous. What is something went wrong? Had he missed anything in the preparations? He took a deep breath. Of course nothing would go wrong. He was in the capable hands of Ellie, and there was nobody he trusted more for the job. They airlock decompressed. He was ready. He was going to space walk. As Ellie began to move out, Jeremiah followed. He heard all her instructions over the com system, and obeyed as needed. He suddenly realized... he was in the void. Outside of the EVA there was only emptiness. It was incredible for a human being, a historically earth-bound creature, to be able to to do this. He looked over the Prospect Horizon. He'd never seen it from the outside. It was better than he imagined... And suddenly it was gone. Jeremiah saw as the Greenhouse began to explode. In the split seconds he had, he wondered what was going on, how this could have happened, what he could do, what the guidebook would tell him to do, the implications of the destruction of the Prospect Horizon. But his body froze up. He couldn't bring himself to grasp the intensity of what was going on. As he got flung back from the source of the explosion, he shut down, closing his eyes... It took King about 2 minutes to regain control of his body. He looked around at the space-debris, the ruins of the station. He couldn't tell where he was, but he was between two large pieces of rubble. Next to him, a dead body floated. Jeremiah wanted the throw up, but instead he had to survive. His scientific mind immediately began to question what had happened. How could the explosion began? It must have been fueled by the Hydrogen. It was stupid to use such a reactive element as a source of power, but that couldn't be changed now. The Prospect Horizon became the new Hindenburg. "Does anyone receive me?" Jeremiah heard over the coms. It was Ellie's voice. At least one of the team apart from him had survived. Jeremiah suddenly began to think of his own chances of surviving. If Ellie is alive, then he has a chance. He'd be helpless on his own. "I hear you, Ellie," King whispered, still unmoving. "Where are you?" Jeremiah began using his thruster pack to move away from the rubble he was between. He finally got a look at what was left of the Prospect Horizon. It was completely devastated. It was all gone.

Neil started to put his suit on, listening to Ellie as she went through her pre-walk briefing. He nodded and smiled, he'd been out on a few walks in his time. He knew what he's doing. He would keep an eye on everyone as best he could. There as the safety tech after all. And back up on the actual maintenance they had to do. He held his helmet it under his arm, "Quick safety announcement, Ellie has last word. She's the boss. But I am the last word on safety. You do something stupid, and I can tell you to buzz off back to the airlock and back inside. I've never lost someone on a space walk. Never had any on drift off and have to go and get them from free float. I'm within 2 years of retirement. Don't break my record now." Sometime later the airlock began to cycle. Everyone suited up, ready to go out, oxygen running, glare shields set. The thruster packs for this walk distributed. Neil Stienhauer has purposefully placed himself at the rear of the column atleast for now until they reach their objective at which point he'd come up to help. But atleast back here he'd be able to watch everyone traverse the distance there. As the airlock opened and they slipped out into the void he called out to every as a reminder, "There are handholds on the station. Use those first before going free float. Push and pull yourself along, it's way safer then kicking off something and floating. You have no idea where you're going to go if you mis-time a push." Then a flash, there is no sound in space. But there is pressure, radiation and light. And it was the light that hit him first. A few minutes later Neil Patrick Stienhauer opened his eyes. He'd been knocked out? What the hell knocked you out in space? He's drifting spinning slowly on his back, he could only see the dark void out beyond. He coughed a little. And looked up, that wasn't right. He had been clipped to a handrail moments before. Which had been attached to a shaded section of the station. But now all that's there is the handrail. He turned and got his first look of the remains of the station. He'd been drifting it seems after whatever tore it apart. He floated there for awhile just looking. little blooms of sparks and flame from this or that destroyed section could be seen. It's tragic. And he figured for that first little bit that he's alone. He'd been thrown clear, was everyone else as lucky? Was he the last person left alive? Then he heard it, "Does anyone receive me?" "I hear you Ellie." Two separate voices. He heaved a glad sigh then keyed into that com line, "Ellie? Who else is that? King?" He hit his booster to get him closer to the hulk, "What the hell just happened?" He cut the thrust after a short 2 second burst, to get him moving towards the remains of the station at the least.

When the download was complete, Makoto radioed his partner. "Ok, looks like everything's fine in here. You can come back in and help me with the printer upgrades." "Roger that, Houston." the man said mockingly. "returning to airlock." While Rodriguez made his way back towards the ship's airlock, Makoto pushed the crated 3-d printer from the science module's docking port to the inner ring manufacturing module. The ship was a series of stacked rings, with the outer ring being habitation, the inner ring being for work, and the central pillar around which it was built being a series of tanks for the ship's fuel and water. The connectors between the inner and outer rings and the core could also have water automatically pumped into it in order to balance the load while they were spinning. Halfway through constructing the device, he heard Rodriguez over the Comm. "Entering the airlock." A few seconds later, though, the ship shuddered, causing him to hit his head on a hand hold, knocking him out. When he came to, he noticed the alarms, and the faint vibration of positioning thrusters firing, stopping the ship's tumble. "Rodriguez, are you there?" When he didn't get a response, he quickly made his way to the bridge, where he pulled up the internal camera from the airlock. He saw a tether tieing something to the inside of it, so he tilted the camera, hoping that Rodriguez was merely knocked out. His hopes were dashed, however, when he saw a damaged suit with a red substance all over the visor. When the suit had breached, it must have vacuum dessicated Rodriguez. Makoto could only hope that he was dead before it happened. He panned around the airlock to see if it was damaged, and was once again disappointed to see a piece of metal imbedded in the seal. While he might be able to fix it, it would leak like a sieve until it was fixed, and air was too valuable to waste. He'd have to find another way outside in order to repair it. Seeing that the diagnostic systems were offline, he quickly rebooted it. The second it was online, though, more alarms started to sound. "Danger." the ship's voice said. "atmospheric breaches detected." He quickly put on his gloves and helmet, then had it run the O2 content sequence while he grabbed a patch kit. After a tense few minutes, he check the screen on a nearby console and was glad to see that the yellow sections were starting to turn green as pressure returned to them. Many of the sections, including two thirds of the habitat modules, were gone, though he did have the medical and science bays from the station still attached. Quickly checking his resources, he saw that the situation was fairly dim. Firing the VASIMR positioning thrusters had used up most of his hydrogen reserves. Without a way onboard to generate more, the solar panels hadn't been installed yet, he'd have to conserve power as much as he could. He quickly switched to minimum power mode and scanned the radio channels for traffic. While he found a few reports of the explosion coming from Earth, what most interested him was the exchange coming in on one of the EVA suit channels. As soon as he found an opening, he activated the radio on that channel. "This is VG engineer Makoto Ito on board the Mars ship, looking for survivors. Can anyone hear me?"

Viktor kitted up somewhat still in an ‘autopilot’ mode as his mind still focused on the possible problems ahead and he combated them each with another thought, the mental argument raging within him as he silently continued to fit himself into the suit. He snapped away from his thoughts as Ellie spoke, focusing on her somewhat calming tone as she talked them through the EVA and what to expect, her confidence and almost routine nature reassuring him as it had every time he’d found himself in this situation. A moment later Stienhauer added his own somewhat reassuring speech, reminding them to be safe above all else, not that Viktor needed reminding, he’d be clinging to every hand-hold he could and avoiding letting go of the station as if his life depended on it. He took a few deep calming breaths as Fabio moved towards him and assisted him with the final few steps of getting his suit on, the final piece being to lock his helmet into place once he’d arranged his earpiece and ensured that everything else was secure and ready to go, even going as far as to double check each critical element almost unnecessarily checking, Fabian suppressing a slight smirk as he fitted the Russian’s helmet on and patted the top before giving him an enthusiastic thumbs up before he moved on to check the next team member. He breathed deeply again, the slightly off taste of the suit’s oxygen reminding him again of the last few times he’d done this and how everything had gone smoothly as it could have. This time would be no different, or so he reassured himself again and again. --- As he stood floating in the airlock Viktor was reminded again of how clumsy he felt in these suits, as if no gravity wasn’t bad enough to begin with. He again focused on Ellie’s voice and he closed his eyes as the pressure continued to drop and they got closer and closer to them moment where they’d need to move outside of the station and move across to where the repairs needed doing. "Okay, people; the plan is simple. We've got a faulty set of solar panels on the side of the Greenhouse, and while we're at it, we're going to also tinker with a plating on the roof of the station, and re-seal it. There's another two layers below, but this skin needs to be rebound. Hence the reason we've got tools, gents. King, I want you to have minimal effort on this mission- you stay back, and stay clamped into something solid. You've got karabiners attached to the core of your suit, clip them when need be to the kink points along the side. Use minimal thrust; use only when necessary, people. You know precisely the Safety concerns. Neil will keep an eye out on us, and him, myself and Viktor will conduct the engineering work. If we need help, Jeremiah, we'll call you over. Act on my command. You look like it's your first time for real. It's a surreal feeling, trust me." As the airlock door opened to reveal both the earth and the inky blackness surrounding it his stomach once more lurched and he wished he could wipe the sweat from his brow already. Following Ellie and King he moved himself out towards using the handle, the first karabiner clip just before him making him feel a little better as he attached himself. ‘Just like last time’ he said to himself finally unclenching his body a little. "Okay, King, I want you to continue following me. Dylatov, Steinhauser, you move along the side, down towards the solar panel. Remember, don't drift, and since slow is smooth, smooth is steady. Calm." came Ellie’s calm voice once more, again her tone reassuring him as he finally began to focus on the work ahead of him over the risks involved. Turning to follow her instruction Viktor glanced downwards towards the solar array and prepared to make his next move carefully, unclipping himself a moment before he steadily hopped slightly with the tiniest of pushes to move to reach the next one. At that moment something happened, an almost blinding flash from the corner of his vision hitting him a brief moment before he felt suddenly like all control was whipped away from him as he suddenly felt a colossal force acting against him as he heard garbled shouts of panic through his headset, realising that he was shouting as well. A moment later he was hurtling somewhere, so fast he could hardly make sense of anything other than blurs within his vision before he briefly lost consciousness, his head screaming at him until the last moment. --- His eyes again suddenly opened, instantly he felt panic shoot through him as all he saw was darkness with the blurry twinkling of distant stars, a vast array of nothingness before him spinning around and around at speed. He panted and started to hyperventilate as he began to flail around feeling nothing around him at all, what the fuck had happened and where was he, where was the station, those were the first panicked thoughts that shot into his mind. His heart pounded as he remembered what was now clearly an explosion, suddenly the worse things he could possibly think rushing into his mind. ‘I’m dead, I’m dead!’ he screamed internally as he scanned around trying to see anything at all, even the earth missing from what he could see to begin with. He didn’t even consider the bigger implications to start with, but after what must have been only about thirty seconds he started to calm down slightly as he realised that he was still alive at least for the moment and he would need to pull himself together if he wanted even the slightest chance of keeping it that way. Calming his breathing as best he could he realised tears were streaming down his cheeks as he tried focus on what he could actually see. ‘Okay okay’ he thought frantically before his more logical side finally kicked in, actually thinking for the first time. He realised he must be spinning with some force and he quickly started to feel dizzy with the realisation as he squinted and tried to make out what some of the blurring shapes before him were. The earth itself was the first thing he identified, it being quite large and difficult to miss as the gentle glowing hue of blues and greens stared up at him. With his gloved hands he reached down to his toolkit and felt for the bulkiest item he could, his fingers closing around the Pistol Grip tool he’d brought before he unclipped it with his other hand. The whole process took a painfully long time as he continued to twirl around and around wildly before he finally pulled it up to his chest and breathed a moment of relief however short-lived it was, knowing he’d likely only have one chance to stabilise himself. At that moment his earpiece crackled slightly, a few brief warbled noises coming through to him. “Hello!? Hello!!” he shouted before a moment realising he was speaking Russian, swearing angrily several times before he switched back to English and repeated himself in a slightly calmer manner. Only silence answered him and he wondered if whatever had happened had damaged his radio, that or perhaps he was too far away from the station now for it to be of any use. Of course it was also possible that everyone but he was dead, but he ignored those thoughts as he desperately clinged to hope that it wasn’t the case. Still breathing heavily with his heart pounding he started to pay as much attention as possible to the direction of his spinning, no easy task with little to use as a frame of reference and his HUD apparently not displaying any longer. Sweat was stinging his eyes as he waited until he was sure he was certain, knowing that he’d have very few chances to get this right, his life hanging by less than a thread at this moment. Reaching backwards slowly with the Pistol Grip tool he hurled it with all of his strength in the opposite way to that which he was spinning, trying to wait for the perfect moment to do so before he finally did. The effect was remarkable as his spin slowed right down as the tool hurtled away into the nothingness around him, a few moments of stunned disbelief falling over him as his eyes readjusted. “Fucking yes!” he shouted enthusiastically as the earth before him stopped spinning wildly and he finally began to regain some composure of where he was. A few moments later his enthusiasm disappeared completely as he turned slowly and the remains of the station came into view and again he had to hold down a feeling of vomit as his stared in disbelief at what he could see. What was left of the station was hardly a shell of its former self, the greenhouse and habitation areas almost completely gone with only few bits of wreckage gently drifting, including the SpaceX craft that he could see several parts of, most of it drifting towards the earth with a good portion of what had once been his home so to speak. Tears again began to well in his eyes as he realised now he was as good as dead, drifting alone and cold in the darkness of space until he either ran out of oxygen or some piece of debris tore through him, the thought that so many others being already dead barley registering for him at the moment. For a few moments he lost hope and screamed as loud as he could, swearing again and again in Russian as he cursed the station, space and even cursed himself for ever coming up here at all. His voice began to crack as he panted and fought back his tears, suddenly realising how pathetic he was being despite the situation. As he completed another rotation and the station came back into his view he saw that some sections of the station looked like they might still be there somewhat intact, though he knew they’d probably be seriously damaged if not completely destroyed. His radio again crackled slightly and he spent a good few moments shouting into it frantically for someone, anyone to answer him. As his mind raced over and over he started to think about what he could do, if anything at all. He soon came to the conclusion that without assistance he would be lost to space, his worst nightmare come true as he had always feared, and without a radio he wouldn’t be able to do anything to prevent it. The only thing he could think of was to create more force that would get him moving back towards the station, instead of drifting away like he was at the moment. He frantically began to paw at the toolkit again, trying to reach anything else that might be big enough to do the trick. He grew frustrated as he first threw the next biggest thing, his handheld temperature sensor, but it seemed to have little to no effect on his direction. He swore and wracked his brain for anything else he could do, again twisting and turning as he tried to look down at the suit to see what else he had. He caught site of the American flag on his shoulder and for a moment he lost his cool once more, cursing again and again, this time directing it at America as if it were somehow responsible for his situation. Suddenly his gloved hand made contact with the small torch that was embedded into the suit and another idea struck him. Again breathing deeply he started to flash the light towards the station each time he spun to face it, trying his best to spell out ‘SOS’ in morse code – though he barely had time to do so each time he rotated to face the station. It started to again give him a brief glimmer of hope as he prayed that one of the team had made it and still had a functioning thrusters pack, as well as being willing to risk everything to retrieve him from his almost certain fate. He swallowed hard as he started to doubt his chances, knowing that if it was him clinging to what was left of the station with a thruster pack that he’d never be able to achieve such a feat, though he whispered to himself over and over “Come on Ellie, Stienhaue, King – anyone... please”.

Ellie looked over, looking around, as she heard them come in. But worst of all, she knew Viktor was out in the open. They were alive, and just- and somehow, she felt good that they were alive. But even worse about their situation, no less, and it was anarchy, as she looked out, spotting King and Stienhauser. She even picked up the sound of a EVA engineer, Makoto, on the Mars ship. But the sight of Dylatov was the scariest one. He was drifting. No thruster pack. And she barely made out that tiny refelction of torchlight, a broken SOS signal that seemed to just be visible. "Fuck." She said to herself, as she looked around, heavy breathing, as she then bounded off. It was a strong movement, a real bound into the abyss, as she drifted, keeping a stable position as she moved to him. She had no idea of how far he was, just that it had to be him, not a shimmering piece of metal. And she would get him. "Thank Christ you're alive. Stienhauser, King, get yourselves to Engineering, or something stable. Get inside the craft, the outside is going to be shrapnel ridden when it starts finding itself attracted. I'm going to get Viktor, he's going to drift otherwise. Just get inside, and wait out. Makoto, I hear you clear, you're on the polar opposite of our line in the station, at the Mars station if you're where I think you are. Just hold there. Viktor, just hang on, keep waiting- I see you." She said, as she knew that was going to have to risk this, and she knew it would be bad. The Canadian and the Australian would be fine to get back, but Viktor, he'd die. And she knew that they would need him, as well as the fact that she was his crew. She wouldn't let him die, and get out of her sight now. The HUD was playing about, and the identification system wasn't working, hardly to her surprise, but no less, this was a time she wished it did. Finding Viktor's light was impossible, though it was just distinctive to her eye. She gave one thruster boost, as she came closer, and closer, making his suit out as she came in. She collided with him hard, bumping off as Ellie grabbed his shoulder, wrapping her arm around his, almost spinning as she thrustered off, pushing back, the momentum pushing them back towards the station, aware that he was now holding onto her. "Hang on!" She yelled, as they floated back, the distance between them and the station considerable. She kept a hold of him, aware that it was easier than most things back on Earth to do- that is, lugging a Russian, in a full EVA suit. It was horrifyingly perilous, but Ellie let it take over her, that she had to get him back, and knew that above all, that there was no way that they were losing him. It was worth the risk to get her, and she knew that she was confident in movement in space, compared to the others. Maybe Stienhauser could move to get him, but she had seen it, and she was fetching him. And Ellie knew that she took care of her crew. This was an extenuating circumstance, and her heartbeat ran almost double, hitting 200. But you had to deal with it, and simply freezing wasn't an option. She'd been out enough, and perhaps Viktor had at least had the initiative to think. But with his arm coupled up around her arm, the two were coming back, and back to station. She couldn't see the others, but right now, knew that they'd find each other. They had thruster packs. Bits were falling apart, the station was almost severed into two, with the Engineering section floating off, though it was keeping a vague pace with the rest of the Mars machine and any fragments bolted to it. That was alive, at least. She had to think. Escape Pods. They were maybe a way out. But they could have been blown to bits, and were designed to be used in uncompressed situations. When compression was lost, they could work, but they relied on integrity of the parts they were within. And hence Ellie knew it wouldn't be a simple case of getting down. Re-Entry was impossible with any part of this station. Maybe the Mars machine, but that wasn't a hope in hell. Even the SpaceX craft had been blown apart, and it was re-entering now, the whole structure falling down. There was no reason chasing it- even if it had an re-enterable module, it was going to be too far away. No, they were stuck here. In the wreck. She thursted lightly, but still impacted hard against the station, bounding off as she held onto him, by his hand as they somewhat echoed off the wall. She grabbed a rail and held on tight, as she looked downwards, to the Earth, almost reminding her in a tormenting way. They were going berserk, perhaps in total shock that this was happening. And even if they could see Ellie Tavistock and Viktor Dylatov on the side of the craft, looking back at them, there was no way rescue was coming. Any load that would be sent up was twice weekly, and the SpaceX craft was one of them at the moment. So a launch would take almost two days, and as Ellie looked at her oxygen meter, she knew it wasn't worth it. Then she realized. It was red, and at the two hour mark. It had collapsed in it's duration, and was reporting error. She screamed mentally, as she looked to Viktor. "My oxygen feed's been knocked up. I'm pissing it away." She said, cursing, with a bated breath, as she let him hang onto the rail, as she barely moved forward, slow and almost horrifed at the thought. She didn't know if the knock now had done it, or if it only reported now. But she had lost two hours of oxygen, and right now, it was going towards the hazardous area. She had one hour, fifty-five minutes left, and that was at the rate that it was going. She could easily lose the whole supply at any moment, and hence, made her movement almost slow, as she was slow to speak, thinking. "We need to get inside. It won't make any difference to my supply." She said, almost knowing full well. She had saved Viktor, but now, due to the nature of the impact with him wrapped around her arm, it had made a significant impact on her current oxygen levels. Perhaps it was a worthwhile sacrifice. She was scared, scared that she might die. But at least she'd do it knowing she was helpless. She had to fight now, Ellie told herself. Find some oxygen, some for the rest of the crew too. Grabbing the airlock rail, she moved past the severed door, and where they had been moments before. Somehow, Ellie could only think that she'd be able to let She drifted slowly, moving through the smashed open door, bits of floating water and paper littering the area, as she avoided it, moving slowly and surely. Ellie didn't want to think about what was next, but knew that somewhere in here, the other two would have made it safely. And if she remembered rightly, there weren't many escape pods in Engineering. They were mainly in habitation, and that was just in pieces now. This was unstable enough as it was, swinging about, just a loose piece that was left. They had to find oxygen of some sort, and while Engineering was going to be what you would consider a likely place, it wasn't going to be enough. Most of the store was gone, and what there was left, Ellie knew wouldn't last. She moved through to the next segment, the sight of a jammed door in front being a significant hazard, as she looked back to Viktor, floating over as she took her toolkit out. "We need to open it up. It's a module to module door, not an airlock. I can cut it, but I'll lose about a fifth of my fuel. Still, whatever is on the other side, we might need. I don't see anything we can use here, it's all fucking loose." She said, looking to Viktor, as she moved down, cutting the large blockage out, moving only a little bit at a time to slice the door's hinge, which quickly collapsed. The cutter was extremely powerful, and since this wasn't a seal, or an airlock- it was merely jammed, so a cutter could do it, taking about four minutes or so to do. It took a while, but it wasn't too tricky. But no doubt, they'd have to figure out alternatives for airlocked doors that were severed in other places, if Ellie wasn't so needing to get behind this door to the rest of the Engineering modules. She finished up, before turning behind, checking who was there. This wasn't a time for words. They all knew what to ask, and it was something Ellie could only respond. "We need to push on. We need to get to Makoto, the Mars ship could have supplies we could use. We need to salvage whatever we can in fuel and oxygen here- but I don't think there's much left. Getting to there means going back out into what's left of habitation and the Sciences area, and I suggest we wait till it stabilizes. I've got an hour and forty minutes. It could get worse. I don't know what happened here, but no doubt, there are no survivors. Could be a fault in the SpaceX ship, or in Habitation's hydro-oxy fuel cells, it can develop. The fucking system is meant to be foolproof...but they didn't fucking account for this burden." She said, rather coldly and aimlessly, just knowing she couldn't respond entirely. Her suit was intact, but that oxygen system was going to deplete, and no doubt, she was going to need oxygen far quicker than the rest. There was no system of transfer, and any supply that was left, she'd need to probably use more to even give around three hours. No doubt, whilst every minute felt like a silent, totally quiet hour, it was going to take time. Everything, every touch or contact that she made, Ellie knew wasn't going to be very audible. All she could really hear was vague radio chatter, and her crew's radios. That, and her own heavy, panicky breathing, and the noise of her suit's coolants. It was stomach churning, but Ellie had to block the fact that as if the team wasn't already in enough problems, she was going to die first. She had to keep it from her, the British astronaut aware that right now, they had to act, and fast, to find oxygen and any pods in engineering. "Sweep out across the modules...whatever you find, grab and keep to hand. Look for oxygen and any fuel that we can salvage- I doubt we'll find a lot, but search any corner." She said, as the whole section juddered, and Ellie grabbed a hold of a rail inside, holding on as it shook violently, before it stopped. Suddenly, almost the whole section behind them fell apart, almost completely cracking as the structure disintergrated, and Ellie held on, aware that it was dropping away in places, as the whole structure felt like it was held by string. "Jesus..." She said quietly, as she moved up, going upwards through the module, looking around as she knew that they had to spread out, and look around now.

Neil snagged a handhold as he got closer to the station then pulled himself hand over hand towards Ellie. And almost started swearing when he saw her go rocketing off. He swore and nearly took off after her. But by the time he had pushed himself off Ellie and remarkably Viktor were on their way back. He boosted back to the station or well the remains of the station and crawled hand over hand to where they had landed. As soon as he reached them he sighed a sigh of relief, "Well...this walk has gone well hasn't it?" He clamped himself to one of the handholds with a karabiner, and when he heard that she was bleeding O2 he winced, "Well we need to get inside then." He followed along in the rear of the group as they crawled towards the junction door. And helped as once it was cut open, pulling on it to open it. Once inside he planted himself against a wall for a short time. Looking around and trying to get some processing done. The walk had started, the maintenance began, the explosion, needing to get back into the station. Their objective is to find supplies and get to the Makoto. all of it is happening so fast. As he leaned there he nodded. Safety would mean an escape pod, and dropping to the surface, soon at that. Getting rescued and perhaps just perhaps getting a rescue ship up to those that stayed behind, because let's face it, there are going to be people left behind. Those pods only carried two people. Maybe three if you're daring and can slip into it safely. Quietly, silently, he made a pact with himself, he was the least likely to have need to go back immediately...he'd stay behind. Of course that all depended on if they survived long enough to get to a pod and if the SpaceX ship out there is okay. He gave a push off the wall and began to search the pods he could reach, jimmying open an access hatch and crawling into one of the neighboring pods. Supplies, supplies. Air Canisters, fuel. Those were top of the list, food wouldn't do them squat with the time they had.

Makoto listened for an answer, but didn't here one, only radio chatter between them. They must have heard him, though, as they were referring to him by name in their transmissions. "I'm running a bit low on spare oxygen over here, due to several hull breaches I had to seal." he said over the radio. "I've got maybe a few hours worth if all of us are breathing it. And because the atmosphere processors and algae growers weren't installed, I can only sequester CO2, not turn it back into oxygen. If you could find some processors that would be good. Algae would take to long to grow, so it's a long term thing only. I also don't have a way to generate power to replenish my fuel reserves. Extra fuel, including inert gas, would be nice, but if you can find any solar panels or RTGs, that would be even better." Once the transmission was done, he looked over a list of cargo and equipment he had on board. Hopefully he could find something to solve his problems. No escape pods, and the surface lander hadn't come up from the surface yet. He hadn't drifted far from the station, though, so they shouldn't have any trouble coming over. "One last thing." he said, opening the channel once more. "the air lock seal was damaged. You'll have to use the medical or science bay as a makeshift airlock to come aboard."

It was as loud as a bang could get, as the next one rumbled throughout the station. Ellie moved up, going through where she had been just an hour ago, drifting quietly and calmly. She moved up, looking behind to Neil, before the noise of that bang then echoed even louder, from the bar that she held onto. It felt like then, it occured. Engineering split into two, and Ellie could barely wrap her hand around a bar, grabbing Neil with her left, as she threw him upwards, as the whole structure below almost completely caved in. The door had perhaps been the last strongpoint- now, it had fallen apart. And it was the sudden horror of realizing where Viktor and Jeremiah were. Ellie was speechless. They were down there, in the furthest end of the station, just to the left of their airlock. The force had been explosive, and even with King's thruster pack, they'd die. She exhaled hard, aware that they were now outside, as Ellie looked to King, thrusting upwards into the Engineering area, or at least, what was left of it. She threw herself past a small door, and felt Neil go past, sealing it semi-shut to at least keep whatever integrity was left. The whole structure felt like it was falling apart, and Ellie knew they had lost any hope of finding the bulk of material in Engineering that was left. She drifted past a pair of claw arms, for repairs, and quickly stabilized herself out, moving slow, breathing slowly as she was almost totally speechless. She couldn't say anything, she knew that Dylatov and King, were as good as dead now. She had a dying oxygen supply. Soon, Stienhauser and Makoto would be alone. And Ellie felt sick from it, the knot in her stomach tightened. "Fuck..." She said, looking to Neil, grabbing his hand, aware he was close, feeling cold and warm inside as she clambered past a smashed arm. "They're going to die...that was a decompression of whatever was left, it's going to be thrown out of orbit. No thruster can save you from that." She said, moving slowly, as she reached up, moving to a cabinet, opening it up to it's empty sight. She then moved through, almost exited in a way, as she moved through the next module, quickly taking off a cover marked "Emergency". Then she was shocked to see what she saw. Where the escape pod was, there was an enormous crack, almost the size of a hand's width, by the side of the escape pod, the black ball shattered. "No way...bollocks!" She yelled, looking at it, almost feeling like she could kick it, but it wouldn't achieve little. She exhaled, knowing she had to hold herself together. "We need to get out of Engineering...that was a two man pod, we need to get to where Makoto is. I'm thinking if we salvage what supply he has, and we try and get into Medical, that seems fairly intact. But we'll need to cross Habitation. It's going to be risky." She said, looking back to him, breathing a little harder from her anger towards it, sweat pouring down her right now. This was death, this was going to be the way she died, and no matter how drilled she was, that was going to remain a fact. "Makoto, this is Tavistock...we've lost two of our men, Engineering is falling to pieces. We're going to try going through Habitation toward Medical, the last thing I can think of is that Logistics has something left in terms of escape pods, but there's no way in hell that we're going to survive long if we go direct." She said, looking down to Neil, as they approached a completely blown out section, held by barely a few metal linkages. "Okay...Neil, I need you to spool out your rope to me, and try and cross. We cross this and the linkages break, I don't want to waste fuel on boosting away, so only one of us should need to. I'm at about half levels right now." She said, aware that the vertigo was scary- they were facing towards the darkness of the stars, Engineering pointing away from the Earth. It was strange, but somehow, Ellie knew that that things were not normal now. Things didn't have their momentum stopped, they kept going, and in this case, it was just knowing that they needed security.

Neil searched through some lockers when the module rocked. He looked over, seeing one whole connector start to sheer away. He lashed out and grabbed a handhold as the entire section rumbled and tumbled abit. He threw himself upwards making for the connector back into the area they came from. HE made it just on the heels of Ellie. Twisting as soon as he's through and sealing helping Ellie to seal the lock. He looked through the small window looking back through it, watching the remains of the module drift. He could see Victor and King floating away with it, both men tucked into balls to weather the storm of shrapnel and and debris as the module drifted and came apart. Neil slammed his palm against the inside of the door, "Fuck...fuck...FUCK! That's two more! What the fuck is happening up here? This place was designed to weather meteor storms. How the hell does the fuel packs go up? How the hell is this all happening?" He took a couple of shallow breathes to try and calm himself. Fighting down the urge to take long deep breathes. He groaned, "Whatever happens Ellie, we need to try and keep our heads. Makoto too...fucking hell eh...this is just too much to take in." As they made their way through the pods he kicked and guided himself along. Then grabbed a handhold as they came to the blown out section. He looked out into vacuum. He gulped, "My god...this was...this was part of Medical wasn't it? Dear god...I almost expect Doc Johns to float around that far corner and ask if we're okay..." He started to unspool one of the safety lines on his belt. Handing the end with the safety lock too Ellie, "Okay, lock that off to something...and keep your eye and hand on it. It's strong enough that you'll be able to pull me back along it if need be. If it stays taut, I'm still going. If it goes slack...well you'll be on your own and you'll need to reach Makoto on your own Ellie girl..." He smiled at her. Then swallowed, "Okay...here we go." He took a step then pushed, using the power of the kick to get him moving, wanting to save his thrusters as much as possible. He drifted out. He cleared the ragged edge of the module, floating out into the sub-zero clear vacuum. He grit his teeth. Listening to the safety line spool out. His on board computer beeping as lines of measurements and code flashed across the inside of his face plate, "I'm clear of the edge..." He drifted on. His hand going to the thruster control. He kept going, giving himself a light boost to send him forward, "The other side is one hell of a wreck..." He gave himself another boost. Reaching out to bat a piece of debris out of the way, and then to push the burned and frozen body of young Jack Boyer, one of the med-techs. He winced, "Boyer...I just floated by him..." He could see the other module edge getting closer, "Just a little further. Is that line tied off Ellie? I'm about to enter the other side. Use the line to bring you across. I'll tie the spool to a handhold. That will be stable enough to get you across." He drifted closer. He caught a handhold as he entered the shadow of the other side of the ragged tube. He grunted, then quickly tied the spool off to another handhold, "Ellie...I'm across. Carefully come across. I'm not going to crack the lock until you get here. Be careful. Take it gentle. Tease your way across. Survival is more important."